Before Wolves’ match against Crystal Palace, a new update on Wolves manager Gary O’Neil’s future has surfaced.
Wolves without a win risk a relegation rat race.
In their most recent Premier League match, Wolves heroically rallied from a 2-0 deficit to salvage a point at the AMEX stadium. After Brighton wasted a fantastic opportunity to make it 3-1, Matheus Cunha scored in stoppage time to complete the comeback.
O’Neil held up his hands after the game to acknowledge that he made a mistake in the first half.
“I started with five [in the back], and I’m a little dissatisfied with myself for that. We performed admirably against Manchester City with a five-back, and I felt the boys merited another chance.
“At least we were able to switch it up at halftime, even if I didn’t think a five-back would work well against Brighton today.
“At 85 minutes, when Brighton scored their second goal, I thought I was going to be stood here answering some more tough questions.”
Beyond the momentary joy, though, Wolves’ predicament once again became apparent. They are currently one of three teams without a victory this season and are ranked 19th in the Premier League about 25% of the way through the season. In addition to having only two points, they have given up a staggering 25 goals—five more than any other team in the division.
Gary O’Neil given two games to save his job
According to a recent report, the Wolves manager is facing mounting pressure to produce outcomes at Molineux. With games against all five of the current top five (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Aston Villa) as well as Newcastle United, Wolves have so far been acknowledged to have had one of the most difficult starts to any Premier League season.
A shift in tone is now anticipated, though, as Football Insider claims that O’Neil’s future in the Wolves technical department would be determined by the results of the next two games. Before a huge matchup with bottom-place Southampton before the November international break, the Old Gold take on 18th-place Crystal Palace in their next encounter.
Even though the Wolves manager “still has the backing of the changing room,” they assert that a lackluster performance in those games will “change the mood'” in the Midlands and that the forthcoming games are “critical” for O’Neil’s career.
However, the possibility of a drop to the Championship is likely to become a more genuine possibility if Wolves are unable to accumulate points against their direct relegation rivals.
Any new manager would benefit from a favorable run of games if Wolves parted ways with O’Neil during the international break, as the Old Gold wouldn’t play a member of the “top six” again until Boxing Day.
